Jordan Burroughs has been to the top of the mountain four times, and is eyeing his seventh straight world or Olympic team this weekend.

After Rio, the worst performance of his senior level career, many wondered how he would bounce back. They also speculated on whether or not Kyle Dake would drop back down to 74kg, since Burroughs wasn't holding a bye to the trials finals already.

What that gave us was an epic showdown in the U.S. Open finals, a main event that came down to the very last second of the match. Burroughs fans rejoiced, while Dake fans cried foul.

Trials Previews: 57kg | 61kg | 65kg | 70kg

Now, we are looking at the possibility of these two meeting once again, for the third time in a best-of-three series. They seem to only meet up in odd numbered years, with the prior matchups coming in 2013 and 2015.

The world team trials are a zero sum game, perhaps best summed up in this quote after Burroughs beat David Taylor in the 2014 trials finals:

In order for me to fulfill my dreams, I gotta kill his.

The talking points and match strategy haven't changed: Burroughs needs to get Dake put on the clock and finish through his leg attacks to get takedowns. Dake needs to stay off a knee, on his offense and attacking, and limit Burroughs' scores to one pointers.

The Qualifiers

Jordan Burroughs, Sunkist Kids
Alex Dieringer, Titan Mercury
Kevin LeValley, Buffalo Valley RTC
Vincenzo Joseph, Nittany Lion WC
Mark Hall, Nittany Lion WC
Kyle Dake, Titan Mercury
Anthony Valencia, Sunkist Kids
Chris Perry, Titan Mercury
Isaiah Martinez, Titan Mercury
Chance Marsteller, Dark Knights



Commentary: What a lineup. This group of qualified wrestlers boasts 15 NCAA titles, though not all of them may show up in Lincoln. Chris Perry won't be wrestling, and there has been little indication out of Happy Valley on whether or not Vincenzo Joseph will be there. Isaiah Martinez wrestled 70kg in November, though he is expected to stay up for this weekend. Mark Hall has a wrestle-off for the junior spot the night before and won't be making weight two days in a row.

Over the past year, Alex Dieringer has firmly entrenched himself as the third best 74kg in the country. Now that he's graduated from Oklahoma State, he is traveling overseas more and competing against foreigners. He was third at both the Olympic Trials and the Open, making him a good bet to make the national team. You'll see him at No. 14 in this month's world rankings done by Seth Petarra.



If some of those guys don't show up, Dieringer could start off with Chance Marsteller in the first round, or possibly even have a bye. Isaiah Martinez beat Chance Marsteller in last year's University National finals, and beat Anthony Valencia during the college season. If the NCAA wins count (and Vincenzo Joseph doesn't come), IMar could end up the three seed despite having to go through the last chance qualifier.

Marsteller has 12 straight techs after dominating his way through University duals and University Nationals this year, but was outplaced by LeValley at the Open and could be the last seed. That would set up a 4/5 matchup of Kevin LeValley against Anthony Valencia, which went Valencia's way 8-3 in Vegas. If LeValley can reverse that decision, it would set up a semifinal between him and Kyle Dake. LeValley handed Dake his last career collegiate loss.

With IMar at the three and Marsteller six, that would give us a rematch of those 2016 University National finals, won in two straight matches by IMar. Which would mean a match college wrestling fans were dying to see could happen: IMar vs Ringer.

Projected 74kg Seeds

Jordan Burroughs - bye to finals

1. Kyle Dake
2. Alex Dieringer
3. Isaiah Martinez
4. Anthony Valencia
5. Kevin LeValley
6. Chance Marsteller

An abbreviated field certainly seems to help make the case that Kyle Dake can make it through the mini tournament and still win a best-of-three series against Jordan Burroughs. This is the seventh year in a row that Burroughs has sat with a bye, awaiting the winner of a challenge tournament. He has yet to lose a match at world team trials.

The fun dark horse in this weight is Chance Marsteller to make the challenge tourney finals. He had a close one with Ringer in Vegas, but the smart money is on Dieringer to place third and make his second straight national team.

Before the Open, all the attention was on Dake vs Burroughs, because many felt this was the year that Dake could finally beat him. I put my reasoning in that preview as to why I picked against Burroughs, but I am back to my original feeling: this is Burroughs' weight until he retires. No one will beat him, except for retirement. Burroughs in two matches.

Nomad's Picks

1. Jordan Burroughs
2. Kyle Dake
3. Alex Dieringer